CHEMICALS.

EFFECT OF THE WAX.

GERMANY'S SUPREMACY GONE.

ALTERNATIVE SUPPLIES ESTABLISHED.

Before the war, Germany was the great manufacturing centre of the world for chemicals and drugs. By many years of unremitting labour, her army of carefully and highly-trained technical chemists had built huge businesses whose influence was felt in every civilised country. Because of this known factor, there was, at the outbreak of hostilities, some feeling of panic and dread lest a drug famine should he experienced. But such has heen the adaptability of the world to unusual circumstances that, at the end of six months of war, prices are now tending to be easier than shortly after the outbreak of hostilities. Further, the conclusions may now safely be drawn that Germany, by this war, has absolutely deprived herself for ever of her old-time supremacy in the drug and chemical trade, without inflicting any outstanding disability upon either enemy or neutral in the process. Alternative sources of supply have been rapidly called into being, and the world's markets liberated from the dominanco of the phrase "Made in Germany."

The export trade of Germany in 1913 in chemical and medicinal products, according to "Die Chemteclie Industrie," amounted to £3,570,300. That trade almost in its entirety will be lost to the country, because of the war, and will prove impossible of recovery as, inevitably, the countries, such as Britain and the United States in particular, which are investing huge suras of money in the establishment of the industry, will protect their capital from unfair competition. Moreover, the larger portion of German's trade in the past has been with countries which are now her enemies, and in addition to any tariff barriers that may be imposed, there will also be the barrier of personal hate and detestation which_ will in all likelihood prove insuperable for many generations. ALTERNATIVE SUPPLIES. Germany, as is well known, secured her pre-eminence in chemical products, by the far-sighted development of the aniline dye industry, from the by-pro-ducts of -which many of the prominent chemicals can best be extracted under conditions which secure commercial euccees. The immediate effect of the war was .to produce a shortage of dyeing materials, and of the drugs and chemicals derived from the aniline dye industry. To cope with this situation, the British dye-makers and the Government evolved a scheme under which the manufacture of aniline dyes will be immediatsly embarked upon on the strength of a £2,000,0UU Government guarantee. ' The British makers themselves, in their private capacity, put forth every effort, worked their establishments day and night, and, in the -words of "The Chemist and Druggist," London, "so relieved the actual shortage" that "already values have declined all round."

The United States also was hard hit by. the. temporary shortage of German aniline dyes, but in her case private enterprise is eaid to be entering the field in co decisive a fashion that never again will she'be dominated by Germany. It is reported on good authorifcf that a plant for the manufacture of aniline dyes is to be erected near Chester, Pa., by the Benzol Products Co., of Philadelphia, a concern with a capital of over £20,000,000. The works will cover 75 acres of ground, and will employ about 2000 skilled workmen. At present four factories in the United States are turning' out aniline dyes, and have also largely increased their output of extracted byproducts. EUROPEAN MARKETS IX)ST. Not only will the British ana American markets be lbst to Germany's chemical trade, but, also, very largely, will her European market diminish. Of her total exportation in pharmaceutical and medicinal preparations, British and American markets absorbed 17 per cent. ; Russia took nearly 25 per cent.; Austria-Hungary took nearly 17 per cent., and France and Italy absorbed about 7 per cent, between them. Russia naturally will procure her, supplies elsewhere, both now and in the future. Incidentally, Russia buys on a large scale, as witness these single orders.—For.ty-five tons of iodine from Japan and five tons of chloroform from America. France, also, is looking to Britain to replace German supplies, and the British Chamber of Commerce in Paris, has just published in response to requests, a list in French, of British manufacturers, merchants, and producers, which will be circulated amongst traders. Even Austria-Hun-gary, the devoted ally of Germany, chows signs of impatience at her bondage in the chemical trade. Recently the doctors of Budapest declared that Hungary depended too much upon Germany for chemical and pharmaceutical medicaments, and urged that Hungary should make moro herself, particularly as her factories were able to do so. Thus, even the European drug _and chemical market will be seriously limited to Germany-as an outcome of the war, and she will be totally unable to re-establish herself in her old-time position of supremacy. GERMAN GOODS STiPPLANTED. As a matter of cheer fact, many chemists and pharmacists are coming to see in the abolition of German eupplies from the market, not an evil, but an actual blessing. At first great trouble was anticipated in replacing German drugs which had been extensively used, hut as time went on chemical ingenuity found that other articles were equally efficacious and could, be dispensed without any loss of value. Thus the Pharmaceutical Society of New South Wales asked' the medical men to prescribe acid acetyl, ealicyl, for aspirin, formin for urotropine, acetomorphine mothl. for teroin, cata- : plasma kaolin for antiphlogistine, j liquor cresolis co. for lysol, and so on. As for German proprietary articles, it remained for a hard-headed Edinburgh chemist to'deal them the shrewdest blow. Said he: "As far as synthetic drugs from German sources are concerned.-which are put on the market under protected proprietary names, it may safely be said the complete stoppage of snpplies is no. great loss either to medicine or to pharmacy. There ie good reason to suspect that not infrequently these compounds were boomed without good cause to bolster up some other industry, and we are glad to be rid of them." "ALL-BRITISH" MAKE. Such of the German patent medicines as have a definite value are, however, already being replaced by Brifcish manufacturers, under license from the Board of Trade, the German patent righta having been voided since the opening of hostilities. Thus, Burroughs Wellcome are replacing "Salvarean" wxHl "Kharsivaoj" Boots, Ltd.,

are handling "Formeloids" for "Formainint," and "Regesan Nerve Tonic Food" as a copy of Sanatogen. Other makers are issuing "Vitagen," "Acetopirin," as identical with "Aspirin," all-British "lysol" and "Eau do Bologno" for—of course —"Tiau de Cologne" The whole trade may. therefore, be definitely said to be aiming at the complete elimination of the German element from the trade. It must be recoicnised, however, that, what has taken Germany many years to achieve, cannot be done by others in a few months, and disappointment must not be felt if it takes some little time to placo upon the market large quantities of chemicals hitherto made by Germany. Bnt the ultimate outcomo is certain, and Germany's dominance in tho drug trade is doomed.